Understanding Your Offer

It can take several weeks to process a financial aid application, so we encourage you to complete and submit yours early. After your application materials have been processed and reviewed, you will receive an email from the Office of Financial Aid letting you know that your financial aid notice is available on PAWS.

Your Financial Report Explained

You will receive a financial aid offer email to alert you to the packaging of aid on your PAWS account. You must then use your FSU username and password to log into PAWS. Navigate to "view financial aid" and choose the aid year you want to view.  Your account will display any scholarships, grants, or loan offers that you have been determined to be eligible for.  You will also receive additional revised award offer notifications via email if there are future updates or changes to your aid package. 

Accept or Decline Your Offer

You have received your financial aid offer. Now what should you do? We automatically accept all free aid awarded to you and it will be applied to your university charges. However, if you want to accept or decline loan offers you will need to do that inside your PAWS account (View Financial Aid>Select Year>Accept/Decline Awards). Your offer notification will give specific steps, but always remember that a loan entrance counseling and MPN are required when borrowing federal loans for the first time.  These items can be completed directly on the FAFSA site. 

Condition of Awards

When you accept your Frostburg State University aid offer, you agree to fulfill the corresponding responsibilities, including the terms and conditions set by federal, state, and institutional regulations for financial aid.

Renewal Criteria for Admissions Merit Scholarships

(Updated for 2025-2026 Aid Year)

Renewal Evaluation

The FSU Financial Aid Office reviews renewal conditions twice per year after grades are finalized.  Reviews typically begin in January and June based on the academic record at that time. If a student fails to meet any of the renewal conditions above, the award will be canceled unless the situation falls into the automatic probation criteria outlined below.

The Financial Aid Office also reserves the right to waive cancellation or probation based on unique circumstances.

Students are eligible for an automatic one-time only merit scholarship GPA probation semester without an appeal, if the criteria below are met.

Merit Scholarship GPA – Automatic One-Time Only Probation Criteria

At the end of a student’s first fall term, FSU will grant automatic spring semester GPA probation to freshmen who failed to meet the GPA requirement for their merit award.

Merit Scholarship GPA – One-Time Probation Stipulations

If an award is placed on spring GPA probation, the recipient of that award must meet the advertised GPA requirement by the end of that spring semester and all the remaining fall and spring semesters.  Failing to do so will result in the permanent loss of the scholarship for all future semesters.

Merit Scholarship Cancellation Appeals

If an Admissions Merit Scholarship is canceled for any reason, a student may appeal one time only if documented extenuating circumstances exist (ex. death in the immediate family, major/unexpected medical obstacles, etc.).  A student may also appeal if the GPA and earned unit requirements are met due to a grade change that occurred after the renewal evaluation.  Appeals (including academic plan and supporting documentation) should be received by the FSU Financial Aid Office within 15 business days of the date on the original cancellation notice. Cancellation notices will come in the form of an email sent to the FSU student email account.  Navigate may also be utilized as an additional cancellation communication tool.

To appeal, a student can send an email from the FSU student email account (with Merit Scholarship Appeal as the subject) to the Scholarship Appeals Committee at fsufinaid@frostburg.edu requesting a scholarship appeal form.  The student must include with the appeal, a description of the extenuating circumstance that prevented the criteria from being met and attach all supporting documentation.  Submission of an academic plan as an electronic document on the FSU Financial Aid Office forms list is also required. (www.frostburg.edu > FSU Financial Aid Forms > “Other Forms” > “Academic Plan Worksheet”) If a student cannot complete the electronically submittable version, an approved hard copy can be submitted.  Students must contact the Financial Aid Office for assistance.  

All appeal decisions are final.

Freshman awards may be received for a maximum of 8 consecutive fall and spring semesters. Associate Degree Scholarships may be received for no more than 4 consecutive fall and spring semesters.  The number of consecutive renewable semesters for a Transfer Scholarship may vary depending on the recipient’s number incoming approved credits.  Students should reference the original Admissions offer communication for further details.  Students must also continue to follow Satisfactory Academic Progress procedures to remain eligible.  

1. Recipients must enroll full-time (at least 12 credits) for every consecutive fall and spring semester.
   
   
2. Recipients must earn a minimum of 24 units during the academic year.  FSU’s academic year begins with summer and ends with spring. *** To complete an undergrad degree in four years, a student needs to earn at least 30 units per academic year. *
   
   *Spring admits are only required to earn 12 units in the first academic year for which they attend.
   
   
3. Earned units are defined by FSU’s academic policies to include courses with passing grades (A, B, C, D, P, AP, CE, CL, IB, PT, and all FSU approved transfer credits). Excluded are failed, incomplete, audited, dropped, or withdrawn courses.   For repeated courses, FSU includes the units earned on the FSU transcript/record as of the date of evaluation.
   
   
4. Recipients must maintain the cumulative FSU GPAs and other requirements listed above.